Two years after Volkswagen admitted to cheating on its emissions tests, leading to a $4.3 billion settlement, the automaker is in legal trouble again.

The U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission charged the company Thursday with defrauding U.S. investors by raising more than $13 billion from them through false claims about the environmental impact of its “clean diesel” fleet.

Advertisement

The commission accuses the German automaker of lying about its vehicle quality, environmental compliance and financial standing.

“By concealing the emissions scheme, Volkswagen reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in benefit by issuing the securities at more attractive rates for the company,” the commission said in a news release.

The company’s former CEO, Martin Winterkorn, and two of its subsidiaries were also charged.

The “elaborate fraud” ran from April 2014 to May 2015 while senior executives knew that more than 500,000 vehicles in the U.S. “grossly exceeded legal vehicle emissions limits,” according to the S.E.C.

In 2017, Volkswagen pleaded guilty to fraud, obstruction of justice and falsifying statements — the first time the manufacturer admitted to criminal conduct in any court in the world.

The plea came after authorities revealed Volkswagen had intentionally cheated on emissions test for at least six years. The scandal, sometimes referred as “dieselgate,” led to Winterkorn’s resignation, prompted massive bills and harmed the automaker’s reputation.

Volkswagen strongly rebuked the latest accusations, saying investors were not harmed and that the commission is simply repeating “unproven claims” about Winterkorn.

“The SEC’s complaint is legally and factually flawed, and Volkswagen will contest it vigorously,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

“Regrettably, more than two years after Volkswagen entered into landmark, multibillion-dollar settlements in the United States with the Department of Justice, almost every state and nearly 600,000 consumers, the SEC is now piling on to try to extract more from the company.”

The S.E.C. complaint, filed Thursday in San Francisco federal court, states Winterkorn and other executives knew of “substantial emissions problems” with its “clean diesel” fleet as early as November 2007.

“Although at least one meeting participant warned that putting the existing vehicles on the road in the U.S. would damage VW’s reputation if the vehicles’ high emissions were later discovered, those concerns were ignored,” the complaint reads.